1. Field
The disclosed concept pertains generally to electrical switching apparatus and, more particularly, to circuit breakers including a plurality of separable contacts.
2. Background Information
U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,334 discloses a series arrangement of two circuit breaker mechanisms. The interruption performance of the circuit breaker is determined by the “current limitation of series arcs,” which provides two arcs in series, thereby having twice the resistance of a single arc.
It is known to connect multiple poles of circuit breakers in series to provide a high voltage for a low voltage switching and interruption device (e.g., without limitation, 750 VDC; 1000 VDC; 1500 VAC).
Circuit breakers are typically available in one-, two-, three- and four-pole construction, although larger counts of poles are possible.
For a 1000 VDC application, typically multiple circuit breakers are tied together. Most known existing six-pole or eight-pole air circuit breakers are designed such that the poles are electrically connected internally in breaker structures in a predetermined manner. This limits the flexibility of wiring the six-pole or eight-pole circuit breakers in switchgear and switchboards.
There is room for improvement in electrical switching apparatus, such as circuit breakers including a plurality of separable contacts.